Supreme Court Judge Converted To Christianity
The city of Athens, during the time of the Apostle Paul’s ministry, was a mecca of religious systems. It was so congested with different kinds of gods that Paul admonished the inhabitants in Acts 17:22–23 for their religious zeal: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and observed your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.”
The whole city was like a modern mall in which one could shop for whatever kind of a god he wanted. If you preferred a goddess rather than a god, you could find it in Athens.
The city of Athens was built around the famous Acropolis, on which was one of the wonders of the ancient world (the temple of Athena, or the Parthenon). Around the base of the Acropolis could be found hundreds of altars. On the base of one altar found in the ancient ruins was the following inscriptions “SACRED, WHETHER IT BE TO A GOD OR GODDESS.” (See picture to left.)
As a result of Paul’s preaching in Athens, Acts 17:34 tells us that “Dionysius believed” and began to follow Christ. Dionysius was a member of the Areopagus, which had jurisdiction over manners, morals and teaching in Athens. The members of this Supreme Court were elected for life. Dionysius was named after the god Dionysius and followed the religious practices of those who worshipped that particular god. Their beliefs included a hedonistic lifestyle of drinking bouts and orgies. The harvest festival was led by a parade of transvestites (cross-dressers) which celebrated the flowing of the new wine.
Dionysius’ conversion and transformation of life was so genuine that he became a leader in the first century Christian church. A marble slab has been found in Athens with the following inscription:
Historical records refer to Dionysius as. “The first Bishop of the Church of Athens” (Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, III.4.11; IV.23.3).
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Dionysius preached the gospel in the shadow of the Acropolis, the city in which he was raised, and where he worshipped all his life. What a testimony to those who knew him.
An Iron Bed
Why is King Og’s “iron bed” mentioned in Deuteronomy 3:11? Was it really made of iron; was it solid iron? Why was it so big (about 13 feet long and 6 feet wide)?
Alan Millard deals with the answers to these and other questions in “King Og’s Iron Bed,” Biblical Archaeology Review (4/90). The answer to its enormous size is that Og was one of the Rephaim, a race of giants. He needed a large bed. But there may also have been a certain amount of ostentatiousness.
Since iron formerly was thought not to have been in use before the Iron Age, many scholars early concluded that this verse did not refer to his bed, it referred to his sarcophagus. And it was not made of iron, it was made of stone.
However, author Millard presents overwhelming evidence, using many well-documented examples, of the use of iron during the Late Bronze Age (and even before). On the other hand, it was not a common metal. It was considered precious because of its scarcity, and used at that time chiefly for decoration. The point is that during the time of the Deuteronomy 3:11 reference, iron was used to decorate Og’s bed — it was not made of solid iron.
[At our ABR excavation at Khirbet Nisya in Israel, we found whole and parts of 8 or 9 iron bracelets, along with as many bronze bracelets. This, in itself, is a clear indication that our site was occupied during Late Bronze Age II and very early Iron Age I. We know this simply because iron was in use as jewelry rather than as implements — it was still considered precious.]
Scholars were wrong to think the reference was to a “stone sarcophagus” and not to an “iron bed.” Millard makes it quite clear that the Hebrew in the passage refers to an iron bed. He further marshalls plenty of archaeological evidence that beds were often treated as luxury items in the ancient near east, later often decorated with ivory or silver, while Og’s bed was decorated early on with iron as a precious metal.
Scholars today often wrongly imply that Deuteronomy (and all the Books of Moses) were written by scribes very much later than Moses and were only attributed to him. But here we have further proof of their error in considering these books late. For after iron became plentiful and its use became common, no one would think of iron as precious anymore and suggest its use for decoration.
Search For The Holy Cow
Vendyl Jones (from whom “Indiana Jones” got his name) has been excavating in a cave near Qumran looking for the ashes of the red heifer for eight years. The ordinance of the red heifer and its necessity for cleansing priests is found in Numbers 19. Jones believes that when he finds the jar with the ashes (lost during the destruction of the Temple in AD 70) this will open the way to reinstitute sacrifices on the Temple Mount. He is convinced that he knows where the jar is from his own decipherment of the Copper (Treasure) Scroll found at Qumran.
Many have asked ABR about the validity of this project. The best analysis of it we have seen is found in Israel My Glory June/July 1990.
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Will Varner, author of the article, suggests several reasons why Jones may be on the wrong track. 1) Most scholars believe the scroll is a hoax. No trace of the treasure has been found at a single one of the 60 sites mentioned in the scroll. 2) The treasure mentioned in the scroll is far too much for the Essenes to have possessed. And the treasures of the Temple were still in it when it was destroyed. The Romans apparently took all the treasure. 3) The ashes of the red heifer are not even mentioned in the scroll. Only a jar, a kalal, is mentioned. And its contents are a scroll, not ashes. 4) The ashes were still in use during the Amoraic period (a Jewish term meaning “interpreter” — interpreters of the Mishnah — AD 200–500). How could they have been buried by the Essenes? 5) Lastly, and most damaging, is the fact that modern Orthodox Jews have determined that they will simply slaughter a red heifer, sacrifice it, and use the ashes for cleansing whenever they are ready to do so. They don’t need the ashes of the Temple nor of the Essenes.
Varner concludes, “It is doubtful, that he is on track, inasmuch as he is basing his entire endeavor on an obscure interpretation of an even more obscure document.”
Phoenicians In The Americas?
One might expect to read about this possibility in a magazine that deals with the spectacular, but not in Archaeology (Jan./Feb. 1990, p. 20). “A Phoenician Fable” by Patricia and Pierre Bikai centers around a statue and a hoard of Carthiginian coins found on the island of Corvo in the Azores (between Africa and S. America).
Although agreeing that the easiest way to get to Corvo from Africa is to ride the Equatorial Currents west to America, then ride the Gulf Stream back to the Azores, they originally dismissed the accounts of the statue and coins on Corvo as a myth. But, as these two careful researchers thought more about it they asked, “Could the Carthiginians have reached Corvo or the Americas? Their answer: By the eighth century BC, at the latest, Phoenician ships were regularly going from Tyre and Sidon to the trading station at Mogador, a distance of more than 2,000 miles. Sailors who did that were perfectly capable of going farther.”
They conclude that modern scholars who assume that the Phoenicians could not navigate the oceans seem to believe the myths about ocean travel that the Phoenicians themselves promulgated. Namely, that the Atlantic was “a muddy, impassable sea infested with monsters.” The Bikais believe this myth was foisted on ancient mariners by the Phoenicians themselves to preempt the discovery of their overseas trade routes — to where?
Late Bronze City Found In Jordan
A summer 1989 excavation at Tell Safut, within the territory of the ancient Ammonite capital of Rabbath Ammon, modern Amman, produced evidence of continuous human occupation from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age. Donald Wimmer, of Seton Hall University, directed the excavation. His team uncovered architecture and artifacts from the Late Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the late Byzantine era. Further exploration may demonstrate an even earlier date for the origins of Ammonite culture, he suggests. This places the origins of the Ammonites several centuries
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earlier than previously thought by most scholars, who dated their appearance in the area to the Iron I period (12th- 10th centuries B.C.).
This is an important discovery relative to the date of the conquest. One of the reasons given why the Israelites could not have entered Canaan as early as the end of the 15th century B.C. (as the Bible indicates), is because the peoples mentioned in the Bible as living in Transjordan at the time (Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites) did not come into being until much later.
As usual, the absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence!
(Reported in Ancient Jordan: An Archaeological Newsletter, No. 2, June 1990.)
Acts Book Now Available In The Us
In the Winter 1990 issue of Archaeology and Biblical Research (pp. 29-30), we announced the publication of an excellent study titled The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History, by Colin J. Hemer. It contains a wealth of information on the historical and archaeological background of Acts and shows how this information supports the accuracy of Luke’s history. At first the book was available only in Europe (J.C.B. Mohr, Tubingen), but now it can be obtained from Eisenbrauns, P.O.B. 275, Winona Lake IN 46590 at a cost of $45.00.
Joshua’s Altar Found On Mt. Ebal?
Adam Zertal is confident that he has found an alter, perhaps the altar, built by Joshua and the Israelites on Mt. Ebal after they had entered the Promised Land. The Reader’s Digest must put some credence in it inasmuch as they published an article on the subject in September 1990.
Zertal undoubtedly discovered a cult center, and the Bible does say that Joshua raised an altar on Mt. Ebal (Jos 8:30). A scarab (beetlelike seal) was found dating to the late 13th century BC which is too late for the date of the Conquest. However, it might have been passed down as an heirloom, or it might be dated later than it should be.
It may be that Zertal has found some evidence directly linked to the Conquest of the Promised Land.